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Timeline
Loremaster Perri's Notes: This article, a compilation of dates and times of 'canonical' events from the Pokémon anime and games - plus a few additional events unique to the Hedgeworld setting - is intended to be a quick, easy reference for players who wish to know when certain things occurred, and also one for those who wish to know the current status of the Pokémon World as of 2020. It is by no means meant to be an extensive or fully comprehensive history, as such is well beyond the scope of this article; its purpose is to mainly answer very simple questions such as "when did this particular anime arc occur" or "how long after the events of (Fire)Red/(Leaf)Green did the events of Black/White happen", with some extra information about the world as a whole sprinkled in. The Pre-League era is discussed in a seperate article of its own, hence this timeline starting in the 19th century. Hedgeworld does not treat specific games, nor specific anime seasons, as 100% 'canon', in the sense that every aspect of them is to be considered true in every regard - there'd be a lot of contradictions if such were so, to start with. Due to the games' own nature as a series whose entries are split into at least four distinct timelines rather than following in any linear pattern, the anime's recent tendancy to soft-reboot with each new season, and both's increasing reliance on "comic book time" and growing the world out rather than forwards, Hedge instead treats general events as canonical. For example, in the games, it doesn't matter if one is in the "OG" timeline, the Non-Mega timeline, or the Mega timeline - a boy named Red (although what he looks like varies depending on what timeline you're in) departed from Pallet Town and became a League Champion. This fact remains true, whether one is playing Red, Heart Gold, or Ultra Sun - three games set in three entirely different continunites, but sharing a common event. How he did so may vary from one continunity to another, but the fact remains that he did so. So it is with Hedgeworld - it is a setting all its own, but it shares many of its basic events in common with the worlds of the anime series and the games. Some of these will be detailed below. The timeline has been constructed in such a way to avoid as many areas of contradiction as possible in creating a seamless continunity that incorporates both anime and game events. As an example of this in practice, how various "teams" were dealt with in this world - Rocket, Aqua, Magma, or so on - will use either the anime version or the game verison of the conflict's resolution, but it will never use both. Even in areas where the anime versions of events are used, the related game protagonist character will still become a Champion - this event does not change. They just did so without foiling an evil team along the way. Additionally, many aspects of worldbuilding and character backstories were built several years back, before more current developments in canon sources (the second half of the Sun and Moon anime, the following Go-inspired season, Sword and Shield, etc). In cases where incorporating these later events would contradict with the Hedgeworld in a fashion that would be damaging to its foundation, preexisting Hedgelore will always take precedent. Quick Reference: 'Team' plots use the game versions of events from Red and Blue, Gold and Silver (Rocket), Ruby and Sapphire (Aqua/Magma), Black and White (Plasma), Sun and Moon (Skull/Aether), and Sword and Shield (Yell/Macro Cosmos). The anime version of Team events is used only for Diamond and Pearl (Galactic) and X and Y (Flare). Addendum in regards to anime continunity: The Journey of Hedgeworld's Ash Ketchum ended 'with the Kalos League; I will go into more detail as to the in-universe hows and whys of this at a later date in a different article, as this one is not the place for it. The out-of-universe reasons for this decision are several - the Sun and Moon arc of the anime is impossible to treat as canonical due to how heavily it contradicts pre-established, un-retconnable Hedgelore, but just as importantly, this was done because a logical timeline ''cannot endlessly keep pushing itself back to accomidate the cyclical nature of the anime, given that there is no real end to that saga to be found anywhere in sight. Additionally, in a world where everyone ages, only so many events can realistically be incorporated into a childhood before that child grows up into an adult. For the purposes of best shaping Hedge's lore and worldbuilding, there '''needed to be an end so that Red and the other game heroes could start telling their own stories - and Kalos, where the character was at his best in terms of his maturity and personal growth, seemed to be the best concluding point I could find for Ash as far as the Circuit was concerned. * 19th Century ** 1876 *** While League-like establishments existed prior to this date, the modern organization known as the Pokémon League is founded this year. The first of many League branches to come, the Indigo League, is established in the Kanto Region; the first winner, a young man named Pallas Oak. ** 1891 *** The Red Clover League, the Monté Region's League branch, is founded. With this, Monté becomes first American Region to adopt the system. * 20th Century ** 1910 *** The Silver League, Johto's League branch, is established. *** Within a few short years, Hoenn and Sinnoh follow. Smaller and less significant Japanese Regions, such as Fiore, remain Leagueless to the current day, but they have little influence and even less clout. ** 1925 *** The modern, mass-produced pokéball is invented by Professor Westwood, then Kanto's Regional Professor. This invention changes everything - ''- with the ease of availability and affordability offered by the commoditization of the pokéball, modern Trainer culture and its associated childhood rite of passage really starts to take off, and Leagues spread rapidly across the Regions of the world alongside it. *** It is also at this time that the word ''pokémon, ''a contraction for "pocket monster", enters the lexicon - before pokéball mass production, these creatures were known as '''something else', as they were not pocket-portable by the masses prior to this time. While the old Japanese word for Trainers - ayatsurijin, or puppet-men - is known to have survived through a single recorded instance, none of the old words for pokémon ''in ''any ''language have. They have all been scrubbed so thoroughly, even from old books and records stored in libraries, even from people's ''very memories, that those who have dared to investigate such believe this erasure could only have been done deliberately. What people are trying to hide, and why, is unknown. ** 1975 *** Samuel Oak, then thirty years old, returns to Pallet Town to accept a job as Pokémon Professor of the Kanto Region, following a five-year stint as Professor Emeritus of the Department of Pokémon Studies at Celadon University. He published no academic papers during his employment with the University, nor did he during the entirety of his thirty-five year stint as Kanto's Professor, and yet the League never failed to reward him with ample grant money. ** 1976 *** Indigo '76, the centennial of the Indigo League and of the modern Pokémon League system in general, is celebrated in Kanto and around the world with a myriad of festivities - all to generate hype for the eventual League tournament itself; a broadcast and advertising spectacle the likes of which the world had not yet seen, trumping every other League held by other Regions that year. Indigo '76's unprecedented level of success led directly into the era of star-studded, media-bonanza and sponsor-fuelled League Conferences, that would turn any Trainer who managed to win one into an international superstar overnight. Contrary to any rumors one may have heard, no one from Pallet Town competed in this Conference. ** 1990 *** The Red Clover lab on Resolve Island, just off the coast of Monté's Firelight Peninsula, is opened - an ideal base of operations for America's oldest League branch to quietly begin investigations into various mysterious topics. ** 1992 *** On another rocky island, far away from Monté, a secretive Silph Co. project known as Operation Rainforest begins, helmed by one Dr. Fuji. Steve, then in his late fifties, is one of the scientists working on this project. ** 1995 *** Just as quietly as it opened, the Red Clover lab is abandoned. While most of the equipment was removed when the property was vacated, much was left behind; a good portion of this, plus the remaining research, was ransacked by the group known as Dusk in much later years. Difficult-to-access areas, however, remained undisturbed, and strange materials are still there to this day. ** 1996 *** In Kanto, the boy who would grow to become the world's most popular and beloved Trainer - Red of Pallet Town - is born this year, on February 27th. *** A few weeks earlier, on February 6th (and also in Kanto), the cumulation of Operation Rainforest's several years' worth of research pays off - the first stirrings of brain activity, the first sign of a heartbeat, and the first spark of soul within the cumulation of their efforts to engineer the pinnacle of pokémon performance. A heavily-modified "clone" of the Mythical mew - dubbed Mewtwo. ** 1997 *** On April 1st of this year, aged ten years, ten months and ten days, Ash Ketchum begins his journey on the League circuit. *** Later this year, Mewtwo escapes from its laboratory confines, causing considerable damage in the process, but many of the scientists - including Steve - survive. In the aftermath, the former project leader, Fuji, settles in Lavender Town and sets up an independent daycare, spending his later years in quiet atonement. ** 1998 *** Ash competes in Indigo '98, held in the month of July. While he didn't win, he did ''pick up a sponsor as a result of placing high enough in the results to be noticed; this financed his journey onwards. *** He also competed in that year's Orange League (an underground Conference which is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or supported by the Pokémon League in ''any fashion whatsoever), which was held in September, winning the cup. ** 1999 *** Ash competes in Silver '99 in May, prior to his birthday (meaning that he was still 12, at the time). *** He travels to Hoenn immediately after and completes the Gym circuit in time to compete in Ever Grande '99, during December. * 21st Century ** 2000 *** Ash spends the entirity of this year competing at Hoenn's Battle Frontier. *** The events of Pokémon Collesseum (elaborate later) *** The events of Pokémon Ranger (elaborate later) ** 2001 *** Ash earns his final Gold Symbol in February. It is also at this time that he is invited by Scott to become Hoenn's eighth Frontier Brain, a proposition that he agrees to ''- but he wants to finish his travels first; he promises that he will return to take up the position once he has done so. *** After a few months back home in Pallet Town, Ash travels to Sinnoh in the spring, where he soon meets, befriends and mentors a beginning Coordinator, Dawn. They travel together throughout the Region, and help to thwart the schemes of Cyrus and Team Galactic. Afterwards, Ash competes in Lily of the Valley 2001 - an event which has gained infamy in certain League-loathing circles as one of the most blatantly rigged Conferences in recent memory. ** '''2002' *** Ash leaves for Unova in the springtime of 2002, although he does not earn any badges during his stay there, nor does he compete in this Region's League. There are numerous theories as to why he made this choice; the most common is that his retreat to a Region halfway across the world from his home was likely a Training sabbatical of some type, a way to clear his head and hone his skills in a brand new place. It is also known that he visited several nearby Regions, including Monté, during this time period, the boy having signed several hotel guestbooks in Verdigris City. *** Ash leaves for Kalos in September. *** The events of Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (elaborate later) ** 2003 *** Ash competes in the Kalos League in the spring of this year, and comes dangerously close to winning it all. Lumiose 2003, considered a disaster and an embarrassment by the Pokémon League for many reasons, not the least of which was its storming by Team Flare, is today believed to be 'lost media', with no recordings of the Conference known to still exist. *** Team Flare is defeated, an event for which the Lumiose League takes all credit. Very few details of the incident are known to the general public, even to this day. *** Upon parting ways with his travelling companions, Ash heads back home for Pallet Town, where he remains for the rest of that year. ** 2004 *** In January, Ash formalizes his retirement from the League circuit - his motives never publically stated - and travels back to Hoenn, to fulfil his promise to become the eighth Frontier Brain. *** The events of Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (elaborate later) ** 2005 *** The events of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (elaborate later) ** 2006 *** Salon Maiden Anabel washes up on the shore of Alola's Poni Island, after having disappeared without a trace several months before. *** Around the same time as Anabel's vanishing, Ash abruptly leaves the Battle Frontier for reasons unknown; to this day, nobody knows where he is. He has not been seen, nor heard from, in over thirteen years. *** But when the door to one Trainer's saga closes, another opens - Indigo 2006 takes place in July, and a first year Trainer, Pokémon Trainer Blue, Battles her way to victory - the first Pallet Town Trainer to win a Conference in over 130 years. This sets the stage for... ** 2007 *** A now eleven-year-old Red sets off from Pallet on his own Journey, finishing his circuit of Kanto in time to compete in that year's League Conference, outing Blue as the new Champion and solidifying his place in the history of the sport as a prodigy like no other. Not only did he collect all of the Region's official Badges and then go on to win the League, but he also managed to vanquish Team Rocket - all in the space of a few months! *** At the same time that Red travelled through Kanto, Professor Birch's son, Brendan, set off on his own adventure through the Hoenn Region, facing off against a double threat of duelling Teams and becoming a celebrity in his own right by year's end. *** Also in Hoenn, a boy named Wally with a dream in his heart strives to become a Champion, too - only to be crushed by Brendan at every turn. *** Dawn formally retires as a Coordinator and retreats to her hometown of Twinleaf. ** 2008 *** Wally finally achieves victory, ousting Brendan to become the winner of Ever Grande 2008. *** It is also during this year that Alabaster becomes the Regional Professor of Monté. He begins helming the organization that would become Dusk on the side, leading the organization's research into the properties of the soul with the end goal of helping pokémon and people to lead closer and happier lives. ** 2010 *** Professor Samuel Oak retires at the age of 65, and his grandson, Gary, becomes Kanto's new Regional Professor in his stead; Gary Oak reamins the Professor to this day. *** Meanwhile, in the Johto Region, a boy named Ethan takes on "Neo Team Rocket" during the course of his Trainer's Journey - an attempt by the formerly defunct criminal organization to return to its original glory. While Ethan certainly does his part in stomping over their attempt to rise once more to power, perhaps the true death knell for Team Rocket is Giovanni's own decision to not answer their call for him to lead them again, rendering the group well and truly to the realm of the past. Their infamy and name, however, have outlived them, and other crime gangs in regions as far-flung as Monté like to adopt the title of "Rocket," despite having zero connection to the original group. *** At the same time that Ethan travelled, a boy named Lucas ventured through Sinnoh, becoming that year's Lily of the Valley Champion. ** 2012 (Everything from here and below is very incomplete) *** The Unova Region is rocked by Team Plasma! A Trainer named Hilda gets caught up in the conflict, but the League's real ''ire is saved not for the Team itself, but instead for the young man known as N. ** '''2014' *** Oh whoops Team Plasma is still here, except it's Neo Team Plasma and they've gone even further off the rails. It's up to a girl named Rosa to deal with this! *** A Pokémon Trainer named Calem wins the Lumiose Conference in Kalos, becoming a Champion. ** 2015 *** Alabaster retires as Monté's Professor, and is also forced out of his position at Dusk by a renegade member named Vandal, who takes the group in a new - and decidedly different and dangerous - direction. A mysterious man named Matthew Anderson, assuming the surname Garnet to fit Monté's rock-and-gemstone themed naming for Professors, steps up to helm the lab; he remains the Professor to this day. ** 2016 *** Pokémon Trainer Elio - better known as Sun - becomes the first Champion of the Alola Region, as the League finally sets up shop there and starts the proccess of supplanting the islands' traditional rituals and ways of life and with their own agenda, something achieved with the full assistence and cooperation of individuals such as Professor Kukui. Slowly, every so slowly, Z-Moves start to become a dying art. *** Also something something Ultra Beasts, Aether Foundation and YOUR BOY GUZMA. Red's in Alola too, shilling his sponsors at the Battle Tree for the year in the company of Blue. Some angry pikachu stowed away on his ship and followed him there. Wally came, too! Anabel's last big adventure, before venturing to Monté... ** 2019 *** The events of Pokémon Sword and Shield (elaborate later) ** 2020 *** And here we are. Category:Lore Category:Meta